REVIEW: Dark Shadows (12A)

If you like Tim Burton movies you'll almost certainly like Dark Shadows. It does, to paraphrase a well-known advert, it does exactly what it says on the tin!



The movie begins back in 1752. Joshua Collins and his wife set sail from England to America with their son, Barnabas. Barnabus grows up to be a wealthy and successful playboy figure in the fishing port of Collinsport, Maine - the town having taken its name from his family. He lives in the gothic Collinwood Manor, which his family built with the fortune they made from the fishing industry.

Barnabus makes the mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard, who turns out to be a witch. In revenge, she kills both Barnabus' parents and curses the rest of his family. She also casts a spell that will make all Barnabus' lovers leap to their deaths from a nearby cliff. Barnabus does find true love with Josette, but, under the influence of the spell, she falls to her death from the cliff. Finally, Angelique turns Barnabas into a vampire, so that he will live in misery for all eternity. Then she buries him alive, in a coffin secured shut by long padlocked chains, out in the woods.

The action moves forward two centuries to 1972. Barnabas is woken and accidentally freed from his coffin by a group of construction workers. He kills them in the manner of a vampire, by sucking their blood. He finds his way back to Collinwood Manor which is now in desperate need of repair, as much of it is in ruin. Barnabas' dysfunctional descendants still live in the manor house, and he decides he will bring back the family its glory as it once was. However, when Angelique finds out he has escaped his grave, she plots further revenge to his family and tries to win back his affection.

The movie is loosely based on a 1960s US TV series of the same name, and there is also a dose of Beetlejuice about it.

There's dollops of gothic, and some very funny comic set pieces, many of which make excellent use of 70s songs as a musical backdrop. There's a seduction scene that owes more than a nod to a famous scene from The Tall Guy.

Helena Bonham Carter is tremendous as the Collins family "live in psychiatrist, and both Eva Green and Michelle Pfeiffer both vamp it up to the maximum! Danny Elfman's score is suitably gothic in nature, and provides a great contrast to the cheery 70s pop songs, and the appearance of Alice Cooper ("the ugliest woman I've ever seen") at a ball is well chosen.

If you like Tim Burton you'll enjoy Dark Shadows, it has all the thumbprints of his recent work, and, equally, if you don't like his work you're best avoiding this movie.